3ds max ZBrush Modo 801 Arnold marvelous designer 4 maya v-ray Inspiring CG Artists
pro texture painting tips Learn Substance Painter with leading artists from the video game industry
3dworld.creativebloq.com Christmas 2014 #189
star wars VFX exposed
From film to TV’s Rebels, Star Wars VFX then and now
v-ray va-va-voom!
create photoreal
vehicles
Render this Lamborghini! Use Maya and V-Ray to add some dramatic styling to your car models
model complex environments
Design a theme park ride in Modo 801
blend photos And CG Mix ZBrush models and photography
Editor’s
Welcome Is it time to give your CG art a bold artistic style?
Subscribe & SAVE 61% Now you can get the best of both worlds! Subscribe to 3D World and get both the print and digital editions. Turn to page 34!
Creating photoreal renders is a great skill to have, but this issue cover artist Amir Erfani argues you should aim for more. In his tutorial on page 60 Amir shares his process for giving a standard car render a new, dramatic look. Our other tutorials this issue include integrating CG and photography to create dramatic results (page 64), making surreal renders in Arnold (page 74) and an imaginative approach to modelling an Egyptian pyramid (page 76). Finally, if you want to be featured in 3D World, write in and show us your CG art. We’re always keen to promote artists’ work!
Ian Dean, editor ian.dean@futurenet.com
Email 3dworld@futurenet.com
Website 3dworld.creativebloq.com
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twitter @3DWorldMag
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titanic textures Turn to page 44 for tips on using the new Substance Painter and Substance Designer!
Featured
artists
Meet the CG experts and artists who have contributed to this issue
COVER ARTIST artist Amir Erfani SoftwarE V-Ray, Photoshop Amir is a 3D artist with a passion for automotive design. He enjoys creating photoreal car art with a game-style look. His personal projects are a roaring gallery of supercars stunningly rendered against neon lights and rain soaked streets. We felt he would be the perfect person to tackle this issue’s Lamborghini cover. Wanting a unique car render for the cover, and a tutorial that reveals something a little different, Amir chose to focus on the creative process of rendering; he discusses the ideas of photorealism and finding a style of your own. Starting on page 60 you can read how Amir uses V-Ray to light and render a photoreal render before using Photoshop in order to add more drama to the scene. Follow Amir’s workflow and be inspired to create renders with more artistic flair. For more information on Amir’s work visit: FYI www.amirhossein-erfani.com
follow the workflow! Turn to page 60 to read Amir Erfani’s tutorial on lighting and rendering the Lamborghini.
spotlight on our contributors Jonathan Ball
Francesca Forzoni
Jonathan works full time as an illustrator. He’s been doing so since 2008, and has worked on a lot of projects for toy companies, games and advertising agencies. On page 36 the artist reveals his process for creating the rainbow rage of Unicorn War! www.pokedstudio.com
Rafael Vallaperde
Nicolas Garilhe
Frankie is a 3D artist and visualiser in London. This issue she opens our Artist Q&A section on page 40 and gets into the Christmas spirit revealing how to create depth of field for your rendered Christmas decorations using Cinema 4D and Photoshop. www.francescaforzoni.com
Nicolas is a freelance character artist for video games and a user of the Substance suite tools. Recently he won the Substance challenge organised by Allegorithmic and on page 44 you can see his model and learn from the artist’s advice. www.guedin.wix.com/guedin
Vikrant J Dalal
Rafael is a CGI artist and director at Lightfarm Studios in Brazil. He has experience in the advertising industry and enjoys creating art by blending art and photography together. On page 64 Rafael reveals how he mixes CG into his underwater photo shoot. www.lightfarmstudios.com.br
Daniel D’Avila
Vikrant has worked in the VFX and graphics design industry for eight years. He has started his own VFX studio, Project01 Design Studio. On page 70 Vikrant shares the basic approach to creating flowing liquids using RealFlow, 3ds Max and After Effects. www.project01studio.blogspot.in
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Daniel is a 2D and 3D illustrator based in Sao Paulo in Brazil with 16 years of advertising industry experience. He also owns D’Avila Studio. On page 76 Daniel shares his process for creating a complex environment using Modo 801. www.davilastudio.com
3dworld.creativebloq.com
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editorial editor Ian Dean operations editor Kulsoom Middleton Art Editor Darren Phillips c ont e n t team Group content editor Tom May Commissioning editors Martin Cooper, Beren Neale, Julia Sagar staff writers Gary Evans, Sammy Maine c ont rib utors Jonathan Ball, Cirstyn Bech-Yagher, Vikrant J Dalal, Daniel D’Avila, Renee Dunlop, Amir Erfani, Andrew Finch, Francesca Forzoni, Fabian Frank, Pedro F Gómez, Lee Griggs, Steve Jarrat, Denis Koslov, James Morris, Mark Ramshaw, Jim Thacker, Rafael Vallaperde, Ethan Wolfe, Alvin Weetman SENIOR CREATIVES Editor-in-chief, digital design Dan Oliver Group Art Director, Creative & Tech Simon Middleweek Creative director Robin Abbott Adve rtising ACCOUNT MANAGER Suzanne Smith +44 (0) 207 042 4122 suzanne.smith@futurenet.com Circ u l ation Trade Marketing executive Daniel Foley daniel.foley@futurenet.com Direct Marketing executive Charlotte Loyd-Williams Charlotte.Lloyd-Williams@futurenet.com head of trade Marketing Richard Jefferies richard.jefferies@futurenet.com
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Issue 189
Contents Our complete line-up for this month’s 3D World
digital Subscriptions Get a free issue when you subscribe! Or download a back issue for your Android device today! www.bit.ly/3dworld-digital
8 artist showcase
Discover the best digital art from the CG community
17 Community 18 In a league of their own The rise of CG in broadcast sports
22 studio profile Stop-motion powerhouse Laika
26 SHORT CUTS
26 short cuts
Explore the awarding-winning Natalis
Natalis fuses mocap and photoreal rendering
36 In focus Jonathan Ball shares his techniques
40 artist Q&A
All your software queries solved by our panel of CG experts, this issue includes Marvelous Designer 4
Features 44 titanic textures Tips on using the Substance Suite
54 a thousand faces The Boxtrolls: Laika’s 3D print
59 Tutorials
8 Artist showcase
Discover the most outstanding new creative work from the CG art community
36 in focus: Unicorn war Jonathan Ball shares his techniques
Improve your CG skills with practical tips and tutorials
83 Develop
Theory, research and reviews, plus industry tutorials from the experts
Regulars 34 Subscriptions 81 Next Month 91 competition: iclone
40 artist Q&A
44 Titanic textures
Your software queries solved by our experts 3D World Christmas 2014
Substance Painter and Designer tips 6
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54 a thousand faces
The Boxtrolls: Laika’s 3D printing workflow
Tutorials 60 Render a Lamborghini How to create photoreal vehicle renders with artistic impact
64 blend cg and photos Learn to integrate CG and photography for unreal scenes
68 Video game environment Part 3 of the series looks at using assets and materials
70 learn fluid simulation Create realistic streaming fluids in RealFlow and 3ds Max
74 xgen and arnold renders Realise a surreal fantasy scene using XGen and Arnold
76 model a detailed scene Create a complex environment using Modo 801
60 Render an exotic Lamborghini
64 blend cg and photos
68 build a video game environment: Part 3
76 model a detailed scene
Learn how to create vehicle renders with artistic impact with car enthusiast Amir Erfani
How to integrate CG and photography
Create your own assets and materials in the third installment of this series
Sculpt a complex environment in Modo
Develop 84 theory: rendering How to better understand texture coordinates
86 Develop: Star Wars VFX VFX guru Richard Edlund recalls working in a galaxy far, far away
92 digimania: rendering
92 Digimania: rendering
Discover an ambitious render software
Digimania reveals a rendering suite with ambition
Reviews 94 marvelous designer 4 The cloth sim tool gets a revamp
95 MSI WS60-2OJ The ultra-thin laptop impresses
96 InterPro IPW-HWE A powerful machine that comes at a price, will you be convinced?
97 LG 21:9 Ultrawide Two screens are better than one
86 Develop: the technology of star wars
94 Marvelous designer 4
Richard Edlund, the Oscar-winning engineer recalls working in a galaxy far, far away 3D World Christmas 2014
What’s new in the popular cloth sim tool? 7
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98 my inspiration Keith Self-Ballard remembers how his career began, with Myst III: Exile
showcase
artist
showcase The best digital art from the CG community
get published Email your CG ART to darren.phillips@futurenet.com
Visit the online Vault to download extra process art for these projects: www.creativebloq.com/vault/3dw189
There’s a fine line between inspiration and intimidation. The difference is hard work and a lot of experimentation 3D World Christmas 2014
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Fast lane
This image took Graham 36 hours.“I’m not very fast – ironic, considering the content. Snail does F1!” www.facebook.com/3dworldmagazine
Exploded view of a Formula E car Artist Graham Murdoch Software Modo, Photoshop Graham Murdoch started his CG career in the 1990s using Alias Sketch! before migrating to LightWave and now Modo, in which he created this dauntingly complex model of a race car as an illustration for Popular Science magazine. “There’s a fine line between inspiration and intimidation,” says Graham. “Turning that intimidation into inspiration is just a lot of hard work and experimentation.” In this case, experimentation led to Graham using some new techniques, including a Render Boolean for some of the smaller screw holes in the bodywork. “It saved a bunch of fiddly Sub-D modelling,” he says. The car itself was created as a single mesh item, then separated into layers to make it possible to animate between different configurations of exploded parts. “It adds another layer of interest to the process,” Graham notes. Read Graham’s quick tutorial at FYI creativebloq.com/3dworld/cutaway
3d world view “There’s so much to enjoy here. The detail and the lengths Graham has gone to for this project are incredible.” Ian Dean
Editor
3D World Christmas 2014
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showcase 3d world view
When creating Asian female characters, delicate facial expressions and gestures are considered most important
“The character is very strong without being overly dramatic. The subtle gestures, the lighting and the richness of the cloth are a joy to behold.” Kulsoom Middleton
Operations editor
A Woman in Hanbok Artist Seungmin Kim Software Marvelous Designer, ZBrush, 3ds Max, Hair Farm, V-Ray, Photoshop Two goals lay before Korean artist Seungmin Kim as he began this four-week project: to study V-Ray, and to create a Hanbok – the traditional local dress – in Marvelous Designer. While learning V-Ray took up 40 per cent of Seungmin’s time, adopting Marvelous Designer sped up his workflow. “Because everything from modifying clothes to putting in a crease [is] represented in real time, Marvelous Designer is definitely an interesting program for 3D character designers. If you have a chance, try learning it,” he says. One unexpected challenge was finding good design references for the Hanbok. Seungmin turned to dressmaking books to find a pattern he could recreate in Marvelous Designer – and even learned to sew. As well as recreating the clothing accurately, a key challenge was conveying the personality of the woman wearing it. “When creating Asian female characters, delicate facial expressions and gestures are considered most important,” Seungmin says. “Subtle expressions of the eyes, nose [and] mouth, gaze, and finger gestures can hold everything.” See more of Seungmin’s work on his blog: FYI blog.naver.com/seungmingun
Stitch up Seungmin created the costume in Marvelous Designer, even learning to sew in the process 3D World Christmas 2014
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showcase
Island Artist Ahmad Turki Software Maya, V-Ray, Photoshop, After Effects
Lighting the scene “I wanted to create a simple light setup so I used an HDRI image with a directional light,” explains Ahmad
By day, Ahmad Turki works as a texturing artist in 3D animation studio Rubicon Group Holding, but in his spare time, he found five days to work on this personal project. Of that time, he spent three days working on the modelling, and says the most enjoyable aspect of creating the image was the scene’s set dressing; creating the trees, grass and flowers using Maya’s Paint Effects and foliage using the standalone software Ivy Generator. “I encountered a problem with texturing the base, since I had to use different textures and masks for the road, grass, rocks and sand,” he says. “After I finished drawing the masks, I combined them with the blendColors node in Maya, to texture each part alone.” After rendering the scene Ahmad imported the individual passes into After Effects for compositing, “I like to use the LooksBuilder plug-in [Magic Bullet Looks],” he reveals. Follow Ahmad’s quick tutorial on FYI www.creativebloq.com/3dworld/island
Ocean breeze “For the ocean, I used a standard ocean shader from Maya [with] a Color map for the cartoonish look,” says Ahmad 3D World Christmas 2014
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